wood chippings

[baggyman]

I have access to a lot of wood chippings and was wondering if it is possible to compost it. I have found bits of wood in some types of all purpose compost so I think it can be done, but how?
My soil is quite heavy clay and I thought that digging in composted chippings may make it a bit lighter.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[rustylady]

You certainly can compost them, but they take a while to rot down and need to be mixed with other stuff. What sort of size are the chips?

[baggyman]

About the same as you would get in a bag of chippings from somewhere like B&Q. Would it be the smaller the better?
If I mixed it with other stuff like grass cuttings etc what could I put on it to rot it quicker?

[rustylady]

I suppose if you don't want to wait for it to compost, then you could fork the chippings into vacant ground and let the worms do the work over the winter. It would certainly break up your clay.

[solway cropper]

I have half a dozen large sacks with a mixture of wood chips and grass clippings plus pelleted chicken muck which should be ready by next spring. As wood decomposes it uses nitrogen but grass is high in nitrogen so they help each other. the pellets just act as an accelerant.

After 6 months my mixture is a uniform brown and losing much of the woody structure.

[rana]

I have a woodchip path which needs topping up regularly as the wood breaks down so quickly. Chips that I have left in plastic bags have turned into compost in not much more than a year. I must add that these chippings have not been treated with any preservative.

[Two_Sheds]

I'd use them as a mulch myself, on paths or around shrubs